Bayern set to splurge for next season

Bayern Munich’s board have approved plans to invest massively in a new-look team that they hope will recapture domestic dominance and become an international force.

The club’s management and the supervisory board met behind closed doors late on Monday to discuss plans for the new season.

“The board presented the players we need to get and we are all of the opinion that it’s the right way to go and make Bayern successful,” chairman Franz Beckenbauer said.

Bayern will finish the season without a trophy, after sweeping the domestic double the previous two seasons. They were ousted in the second knockout stage of the Champions League and will play in the UEFA Cup next season.

“We will have to invest a lot of money,” Beckenbauer said following the two-hour meeting. Bayern officials have not mentioned any names, although Italy striker Luca Toni has been widely reported to be high on the list.

Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has said that perhaps up to eight new players could come to Bayern. So far, three new signings have been revealed – Hamit Altintop from Schalke, Jan Schlaudraff from Alemannia Aachen and Jose Ernesto Sosa from Estudiantes de La Plata